From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns

Book excerpt: From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns adds a new dimension to the debate over the perceived differences between American and Canadian society. This fascinating case study examines two communities separated by the St. Lawrence River: Cornwall, Ontario, and Massena, New York, from the end of the Revolutionary War to the present. Moving from the struggles of early settlers to industrialization and beyond, Claire Puccia Parham chronicles how the residents of both areas created similar social, political, and economic institutions because of their peripheral locations in a capitalist world system and their inherent congregational and democratic values. These distinctive views often brought them into conflict with national leaders.